Readers and Authors: Is Less More?
This weekend I was fortunate enough to experience my first signing put on by the lovely ladies at For the Love of Books and Alcohol in the beautiful city of Chicago. While the torrential downpours put a bit of a damper on the event, I still got so much out of it, including meeting fans in person and spending quality time with my people (bloggers, designers, and fellow authors).
This was my first time flying to an event at which I'd be signing (yeah I'm a big baby and didn't want to drive to Chicago alone).
I'll be the first to admit my planning was shit.
I ordered too many books, my table was a hot mess, and I didn't have much for swag. To make things worse, I feel like readers who had never heard of me before were simply overwhelmed by the 13 of my 21 books set out. By the time I was done explaining everything, it seemed their eyes were glazed over.
I'm especially curious to know other people's thoughts. Readers, do you shy away from tables with too many books to choose from? Authors, do you sometimes leave some of your books at home to make it less overwhelming? What about swag? Is less more in that category as well?
